Highlights from a year of change - A new era of NHS corporate services - NHS SBS
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Highlights from a year of change A new era of NHS corporate services
DELIVERING INNOVATIVE NHS CORPORATE SERVICES THAT SUPPORT WORLD-CLASS PATIENT CARE
CONTENTS
07 19 33
NEXT GENERATION VALUE-ADDED NEW DIGITAL
SHARED SERVICES EXPERTISE SOLUTIONS
In The Press Case Study In The Press
Covid-19 response Driving efficiencies with Robotic The Edge4Health - The NHS’s
Process Automation marketplace
Case Study
Article Article
CSH Surrey - From 80
systems to one Pandemic preparedness Understanding pay and
improving workforce efficiency
Case Study Article with MySBSPay
New workforce services a From linen to lighting - equipping
hospitals in a time of Covid-19 In The Press
win-win at South London and
Maudsley MySBSPay
Article
Case Study Digital workforce solutions that Awards & Commendations
Beating cyber-criminals with enable real change The Trophy Cabinet
new health and social care
cyber-security marketplace Article
Solent NHS Trust - reducing
In The Press employee turnover with better
Digital frameworks exit interviews
NHS Shared Business Services | 03
FOREWORD
With over 15 years’ NHS Shared Business Systems (ICSs) to develop
experience as the national Services (NHS SBS) has a a best practice model for
provider of corporate shared strong reputation for providing shared services across a
services to the health service, reliable, resilient and value- region. At the same time,
the NHS is in our DNA. But the for-money corporate services our specialist experience
NHS is changing – rapidly. To across the health service. means we are uniquely
support its future success, That was the reason we placed to develop new
we too are evolving. were established and this has value-add solutions and offer
always been our purpose. We expertise that helps our NHS
work with acute, community partners overcome specific
and ambulance trusts, as challenges – enabling them to
well as commissioners, arm’s concentrate on patient care
length bodies, suppliers and rather than distractions away
partners, to provide high- from the frontline.
quality services at a lower
cost than can be achieved The vital role we played during
in-house. With over £400 the emergency response
million of savings delivered to Covid-19 helped ensure
and around two-thirds of NHS that critical services could
trusts and commissioners continue, by enabling NHS
relying on us for at least one providers and commissioners
corporate service, we are to focus on the clinical
proud of our track record. response to the pandemic.
Providing these critical We aim to use this response
services will remain the as a platform, building on
cornerstone of how we the close collaboration with
support the NHS, with future our NHS partners during
investments focused on new Covid-19 to quicken the pace
technologies and automation of digital adoption across
that will help us drive better NHS corporate services, and
ways of working. We are, design, develop and deliver
for instance, working with a innovative solutions, for now
number of Integrated Care and years to come.
04 | Highlights From a Year of Change
Our sector-leading and revolutionise the way the NHS
award-winning work on Robotic buys its products and services.
Process Automation (RPA), The technology brings together
for instance, has saved more thousands of suppliers and
than 300,000 processing NHS organisations on to
hours since we deployed our one easy-to-use platform,
first robot in 2018. Our expert streamlining the buying
knowledge in this area can now process, whilst reducing errors
benefit the NHS more widely, and delays in ordering and
as more organisations look to invoice payment.
invest in robots for repetitive
time-consuming tasks. You can find out more about
these – and much more –
The success of our payroll app, on the following pages. With
MySBSPay, downloaded by an ambitious new strategy
nearly 100,000 employees, has in place and pioneering
led to hundreds of hours being initiatives already underway,
saved every month – time we we will continue to develop
know is being redirected to innovative new solutions that
frontline patient care – and a are as unique as the NHS
better user experience for NHS organisations we serve.
workers accessing their pay
information. We are now adding I look forward to taking that
digital services to enhance the journey with you.
app further, such as promoting
financial wellbeing for NHS
employees by providing flexible
access to their salary as it is
earned.
We also continue to roll out Erika Bannerman
The Edge4Health, a cloud- Managing Director
based, consumer-style digital NHS SBS
marketplace, which can help
NHS Shared Business Services | 05
SHARED SERVICES The importance of ensuring the
NHS has access to high-quality,
robust and digitally-enabled
corporate services could not have
been clearer during the Covid-19
pandemic.
As an integral part of the NHS, we were
uniquely placed to move more money around
the healthcare system than ever before.
Indeed, on the day that we successfully
GENERATION
merged the financial ledgers of 92 Clinical
Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to create 18
new ledgers, a record amount of cash flowed
around the NHS. We also processed record
numbers of orders and payments so that
critical goods continued to be delivered to
hospitals. And we ensured that hundreds of
thousands of NHS workers continued to be
paid correctly and on time.
Just as the pandemic accelerated the
adoption of new technologies for patient
care, we are more committed than ever to
supporting NHS organisations and systems
as they implement modern day corporate
services.
Our next generation shared services are
fully-aligned to national policies and priorities,
NEXT
including an integrated ‘Source to Settle’
solution (joining up finance and accounting
systems with transactional procurement)
and a ‘Hire to Retire’ service, which supports
NHS employees at all stages of their career.
And, by expanding our portfolio of
procurement frameworks, we are making
it easier and more cost-effective than ever
for our NHS partners to access the specialist
products, services and expertise they need
to be successful.
NHS Shared Business Services | 07In The Press | Covid-19 response
Originally published in
Healthcare Finance Magazine
NHS SBS: keeping the
money moving
Keeping cash flowing across the NHS and between the
NHS and its suppliers is key to the service’s response
to the Covid-19 pandemic. And NHS Shared Business
Services has a major part to play in achieving this goal.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have made it
clear that finance should not be a barrier to the care
of patients with Covid-19.
NHS SBS remote working to ensure
NHS salary payments unaffected
Across the UK our NHS staff are working heroically in the midst of
Covid-19, including thousands of former healthcare professionals
returning to the frontline, and the Payroll and Pensions Team at
Originally published in NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has responded to the
National Health Executive
significant uptick in demand despite remote working throughout
April. Processing new starters at a rate of around 500% greater than
usual and ensuring hundreds of thousands of NHS workers continue
to be paid as normal, the team have stepped up to the
08 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeBringing the back office home
With almost two thirds of the Just three weeks since
Originally published in NHS dependent on NHS Shared the Prime Minister’s first of
Health Business
Business Services (NHS SBS) to what are now daily televised
pay their employees, manage briefings, the country has been
their finance and IT systems, reminded of just how important
or help them purchase goods the NHS is. As doctors, nurses
and services, supporting NHS and other clinicians work
organisations on the frontline tirelessly to provide world-
of the battle against COVID-19 class patient care, an army of
has become more important NHS employees has also been
than ever. Providing the working behind-the-scenes to
essential non-clinical services support them.
that keep the NHS moving
- whilst also enabling home-
working for almost every UK
employee - is an entirely unique
challenge.
NIGHTINGALE HOSPITALS: 18 MONTHS
OF PROCUREMENT IN TWO WEEKS
Originally published in
Supply Management
NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) used its “extensive knowledge”
of the NHS supplier market to secure equipment for Nightingale
hospitals around the UK within two weeks.
NHS SBS provided transactional procurement services to NHS
England in order to procure essential products and equipment for the
opened Nightingale hospitals in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
NHS Shared Business Services | 09Case Study | CSH Surrey – From 80 systems to one
FROM 80 SYSTEMS
TO ONE
With 80 sites – including schools, GP surgeries and community hospitals
Introduction
– streamlining and modernising financial processes at CSH Surrey
(formerly Central Surrey Health) was a formidable task.
For the Chief Financial Officer, Charlotte Vitty, migrating to the
NHS SBS platform has been an extremely worthwhile journey.
Charlotte explained:
“In addition to outdated processes, we had a cultural challenge to
overcome. Our workforce is very spread out across the county. I knew
there was a huge opportunity for us to review our structures, and that
the organisation could benefit massively from updated finance and
accounting systems. But before starting work, we’d need to win over
hearts and minds.
“I was only willing to consider switching to an external partner if I could find
an organisation that could form a real partnership and solve problems
alongside me.”
10 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeI was only willing to consider
switching to an external
partner if I could find an
organisation that could form
a real partnership and solve
problems alongside me.
Charlotte Vitty
Chief Financial Officer
Thanks to NHS SBS, CSH Surrey Some benefits were realised
was able to migrate from immediately, such as month-
inefficient and inconsistent local end financial reporting being
80 systems to a much-improved
central system that provides
completed in seven days instead
of the previous 20.
NHS SBS helped CSH Surrey more accurate data, speeds up
streamline and modernise processes and enables a more Charlotte added: “Business units
their financial processes at
appropriate allocation of work. are now ‘self-serving’ their own
80 sites.
reports, freeing up resourcing
According to Charlotte, ‘go- in the wider team. That means
live was seamless’ with board we’re already exceeding some of
members and colleagues at all our ambitious KPIs.”
levels commenting on how smooth
the transition was.
One of the biggest benefits of partnering
with NHS SBS is having financial control
at your fingertips, and the ability to effect
organisation-wide change in a moment.
We are thrilled with the new service.
Charlotte Vitty
Chief Financial Officer
NHS Shared Business Services | 11Case Study | New workforce services a win-win at South London and Maudsley
NEW WORKFORCE
SERVICES A WIN-WIN
AT SOUTH LONDON
AND MAUDSLEY
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s 5,000 employees
Introduction
provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK. Serving
a population of 1.3 million, the Trust has more than 230 services, including
inpatient wards, outpatient appointments and community services. With
such a large and complex workforce, the Trust partnered with NHS SBS to
manage and future-proof its payroll, pensions and HR administration.
12 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeAfter a rigorous tender process, the Trust opted to move to
NHS SBS having been impressed by its breadth of expertise
and the advantages of a shared service. Requirements
included a cost-saving and efficiency-boosting solution to
its payroll, pensions and HR administration challenge – and
complete peace of mind.
Sally Dibben, Head of Human Resources, explained: “An
ageing workforce is a significant challenge across the NHS.
Our payroll team were due to retire and running payroll
in-house was becoming financially burdensome.
“After exploring in-house options, we knew that partnering
with NHS SBS was the best course of action to ensure we
were fit for the future.
“The idea of migrating 5,000 employees to a new system
whilst ensuring they were kept in the loop at all times was
overwhelming, but I was amazed at how seamless and
smooth they made the whole process.
“The project management and Sally added:
communications were first rate
throughout the process and we
5,000 knew we were in safe hands.”
“Overall, the new service
is better and more sophisticated
NHS SBS helped South A modern payroll, pensions and than we had in-house. I believe
London and Maudsley NHSFT HR administration service is now
manage and future-proof it’s one of the best things we
payroll, pensions and HR established and working well
administration for their 5,000 for the Trust and its employees. have done, with benefits for the
employees. Trust and for staff – it’s a win-
The MySBSPay app, meanwhile,
has provided employees with win situation.”
convenient, easy-to-understand
and round-the-clock access
to their pay information. It also
means they can take advantage
of a range of unique discounts and
benefits, which helps them make
the most of their finances.
NHS Shared Business Services | 13Case Study | Beating cyber-criminals with new health and social care
cyber-security marketplace
BEATING CYBER-CRIMINALS
WITH NEW HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE CYBER-
SECURITY MARKETPLACE
Cyber-crime is an evolving threat, so can be very difficult to keep pace with.
Introduction
For the NHS, the consequences of a cyber-attack can be devastating. The
WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 saw more than a third of NHS trusts
in England affected, with 19,000 appointments cancelled, costing the NHS
£20 million in one week and £72 million for the subsequent clean-up.
The agreement allows local organisations to draw on
external support from high quality cyber-security experts
to complement NHS Digital’s services and provide
specialist expertise exactly as and when required.
14 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeNHS SBS’s Digital & IT sourcing team developed a strategic
partnership with NHS Digital for a health-specific cyber-
security framework agreement to help mitigate against risks -
such as the increased threat experienced during the Covid-19
pandemic - and to aid recovery from incidents. The agreement
allows local organisations to draw on external support from
high quality cyber-security experts to complement NHS
Digital’s services and provide specialist expertise exactly as
and when required.
Dan Jeffery, NHS Digital’s Head “This framework will provide
of Innovation, Delivery and further options, alongside NHS
Business Operations, said: “This Digital’s central offering, for
£92m new framework will give NHS and organisations to procure support
other public sector organisations which is bespoke and relevant to
The WannaCry ransomware the confidence that they are them, so that they can continue
attack in 2017 cost the NHS buying high-quality cyber security to keep patient data safe and
£20 million in one week
and £72 million for the services from trusted suppliers. secure and deliver world-class
subsequent clean-up. patient care.
“NHS Digital helps leaders and
employees across the system “We have found working and
to deliver better data security
collaborating with NHS SBS
within their organisations.
Entering a strategic procurement very constructive; being part of
partnership with NHS SBS has the NHS family we know they
been a key step in extending
have NHS customer interests at
the breadth and reach of our
influence to organisations heart. We will continue to work
beyond the NHS such as devolved together to ensure optimal use
administrations, social care and of this new framework across
private healthcare providers.
the sector.”
NHS Shared Business Services | 15In The Press | Digital frameworks
Originally published in
Digital Health
Cyber security
framework launched to
bolster trusts’ safety
A free-to-access cyber security framework has
been launched to help the NHS manage risks. The
Cyber Security Services Framework provides access
to 25 suppliers specialising in managing cyber risks,
recovering from attacks, cyber consultancy and
New framework makes purchase of cloud
services simple for public sector
A new procurement framework that provides the entire public sector
with a simple and legally-compliant means of purchasing cloud
solutions has been launched by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS
SBS).
Originally published in
Health Tech Digital
The innovative Cloud Solutions Framework helps the NHS, local
authorities, police, educational establishments, and any other public
sector organisation, to access the highest-quality cloud services at
best value-for-money from 24 carefully selected
16 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeOriginally published in
UK Authority
NHS SBS launches Digital
Workplace Solutions Framework
NHS Shared Business million, average indicative
Services (NHS SBS) has savings of 15% compared to
launched the Digital Workplace buying direct from a supplier at
Solutions Framework for the list price.
procurement of consumer
oriented technologies for the The contract covers 28
health service. suppliers and is due to run
until August 2022, with the
It has estimated the framework, option to extend to 2024, with
which is also available to the an estimated value of around
wider public sector, could £500 million.
provide savings of up to £75
NHS SBS SPIES £75M SAVINGS ON IT PURCHASES
THROUGH NEW PROCUREMENT FRAMEWORK
NHS organisations and public sector bodies will be encouraged to
Originally published in use £500m procurement framework to acquire IT software and
Health Tech Newspaper
hardware in a more cost-effective way.
NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) has rolled out a new procurement
framework that promises to provide public sector organisations with
a lower-cost means of acquiring datacentre hardware, desktop IT
and enterprise software products. The newly launched £500m Digital
Workplace Solutions Framework is populated by IT services and
infrastructure products from 28 public sector suppliers, and is initially
set to run for two years until
NHS Shared Business Services | 17Faced with a high number of
competing pressures, modern day
NHS organisations increasingly
require additional resource and
specialist expertise for bespoke
VALUE-ADDED
projects and complex programmes
of work.
Working with our NHS partners as a trusted
extension of their in-house teams, we provide a
wide range of one-off or ongoing flexible support
that is delivered by sector-leading experts.
EXPERTISE
Our Healthcare Improvement Solutions (HIS)
team, for instance, is experienced in helping
multiple organisations come together to
implement new models of care – invaluable
as Integrated Care Systems are established
across the country. The team also has unrivalled
knowledge of the procurement landscape,
whether it be helping to equip major new
hospitals or introduce brand new clinical services.
With award-winning Robotic Process
Automation capabilities, meanwhile, we are
pioneering the use of robots for repetitive and
time-consuming processes. At the forefront of
driving this innovative technology for the NHS,
no other public sector organisation has the
quantity or complexity of robotic processes or
infrastructure that we have developed.
Elsewhere, our workforce experts help NHS
organisations to recruit, retain and get the very
best out of their employees. Using data to provide
invaluable workforce insights and promoting
the better use of existing tools and technology,
helps ensure that those working within the NHS
are supported, happy and efficient in their roles.
NHS Shared Business Services | 19Case Study | Driving efficiencies with robotic process automation
DRIVING EFFICIENCIES
WITH ROBOTIC
PROCESS
AUTOMATION
Like any organisation, NHS Shared Business Services is driven to make
Introduction
efficiencies and reduce costs – both on behalf of the business and the
customers it serves.
There are about 850 separate financial processes carried out within the
organisation, covering reconciliations cash flow, invoice payment, debt
collection and more. A complete review discovered that about half of them
were repetitive and suitable for automation, with the result that today, an
award-winning ecosystem of robots works day and night to handle over
250 financial processes that would once have been carried out manually.
20 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeThe organisation’s first large-scale automation was the
maintenance of cashflow files for all customers. This task,
involving gathering data from multiple sources, manipulating
spreadsheets and updating databases, was repetitive and
labour-intensive. Taking twenty people two hours each
day to complete – the equivalent of over 10,000 hours per
year – the process was ripe for automation. A robot now
completes the daily task in five hours – a eight-fold reduction
in time. Crucially, the robot operates out of normal office
hours, and is able to dynamically scale up to meet demand,
so that cashflows are completed before employees even
start work.
Stephen The organisation can now deliver
a new robot – or series of robots,
Stephen Sutcliffe,
of Finance and Accounting,
Director
Sutcliffe depending on the complexity
of the process – within eight
explained: “RPA is about creating
virtually touchless processes that
Director of Finance
weeks, down from 16 weeks at free our staff to do what humans
and Accounting the start of the process. With a do best – having conversations
team of business analysts in the with other humans. Ten years
UK and a support team in India, ago, our business model was
robots are never looked at in ‘we’ll save you money’. Now,
isolation. Instead, processes are the conversation has moved.
considered holistically, so that It’s about partnering with us to
the team can understand how enjoy world-class technology
robots can interact and affect and digital innovation. RPA is just
other processes and systems. what we do now.”
Indeed, the robots - many of
which are given pet names like
Freddie and Bob - are now
managed by one big robot – the
cloud-based Orchestrator, from
RPA partners UiPath.
NHS Shared Business Services | 21Article | Extraordinary efforts
EXTRAORDINARY
EFFORTS
The enormous surge in global demand for
certain healthcare supplies in recent months
has undoubtedly presented a huge challenge
to those procuring goods for the NHS. With
With NHS procurement teams
working tirelessly to respond to
media attention very much on the supply of
COVID-19, Alison Kerfoot, Director
of Consulting, NHS Shared Business
items like Personal Protective Equipment
Services, reflects on the emergency
response to the pandemic and
(PPE) during Covid-19, the dedication and
considers how the acceleration of
new technologies can change the NHS
specialist expertise of NHS procurement
for the better. professionals has perhaps gone slightly
unnoticed.
The speed at which the outbreak escalated in the UK meant there
was an almost overnight need for a massive increase in clinical
capacity. And there can be no doubt that NHS procurement teams
across the country have risen to that challenge. Take the NHS
Originally published in Nightingale hospitals for instance. Our team at NHS SBS saw first
National Health Executive hand the extraordinary efforts that meant these field hospitals
11 June 2020
were operational in just a matter of weeks.
22 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeIn the North West, our capital team worked with During Covid-19 we have been testing HoloCare –
colleagues from the procurement department technology developed by Sopra Steria and Oslo
at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospital – as a means for UK clinicians
sourcing the equipment needed to open up the in different locations to communicate, whilst
648 bed hospital. using the Microsoft HoloLens to view 3D clinical
holograms of medical images. Particularly useful
By providing extra procurement resource to for medical professionals who are self-isolating,
NHS trusts, so they in turn could scale up clinical in quarantine, or spread across multiple locations,
capacity, we have been well placed to recognise to support multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and
the huge efforts of procurement colleagues at a clinical training during a pandemic.
local, regional and national level.
HoloCare is our latest development to support
And, as moves now begin to reopen the clinical the NHS with its digital transformation. We are
services that were suspended because of also working with Integrated Care Systems
Covid-19, our attention is now also on helping to develop scalable automation of repetitive
NHS trusts to focus on getting elective capacity processes, which provides resilience as well as
back to relative normality. freeing up human capacity.
One way this can be achieved is by bringing in One of our major aims is to help NHS employees
short term, temporary clinical capacity and spend more of their time on activity that has the
it is here that our procurement frameworks greatest benefit to patients.
will become increasingly important. Insourcing
of clinical services, for instance, can help NHS And, looking to the future, there is no reason why
hospitals treat more patients more quickly, technology like this, which maximises clinical time
using their existing infrastructure in evenings by removing the need to travel, cannot continue
and at weekends. Whilst helping relieve some of to benefit the NHS long after Covid-19.
the pressure on NHS procurement teams has
undoubtedly been a significant part of our focus, sbs.nhs.uk/proc-his
our team has also been looking at other ways
to support NHS colleagues during the pandemic.
The way clinicians interact with each other and
their patients, for instance, has been a key
feature of how Covid-19 has impacted the NHS.
And this greater reliance on technology has
in itself opened up new doors for how clinical
teams can function remotely.
NHS Shared Business Services | 23Case Study | From linen to lighting – equipping hospitals in a time of Covid-19
FROM LINEN TO LIGHTING
– EQUIPPING HOSPITALS
IN A TIME OF COVID-19
Whilst Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) might have been in the
Introduction
headlines, hospitals across the country needed everything from beds to
bins in order to maintain critical frontline services for their patients.
In Manchester, a team from NHS SBS worked with Manchester University NHS
Foundation Trust to equip the NHS Nightingale Hospital North West, based at
the Manchester Central Convention Complex. The teams identified, sourced,
ordered and deployed over 10,000 items in less than two weeks, enabling the
new hospital to open on time. Everything from beds to bins, to ventilators
and PPE needed to be bought, whilst adhering to social distancing measures
and battling aggressive global demand. The facility provides much needed
support to hospitals across North West England for as long as required, and
is capable of treating up to 650 patients at full capacity.
Alice Donovan-Hart, Head of Healthcare Improvement Solutions, explained: “We had teams
of people working both on-site and remotely. With architectural designs and the clinical model
constantly changing, we initially struggled to source a definitive list of required items. To address
this, we worked with clinicians to grade items according to their clinical priority, so we were able to
prioritise essential items that were unlikely to change.”
24 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeThe small on-site team incorporating Capital With treatments such as chemotherapy,
Equipment and Project Management expertise immunotherapy and radiotherapy, and
were responsible for collaborating with clinicians cutting-edge facilities for diagnostics and
to scope equipment requirements, centrally imaging, a clinical decisions unit, day case and
managing the sourcing process, and reporting outpatient treatments, bone marrow transplant
back to the project board. The intensity of the and clinical therapies, the brief was to create an
environment and the pace of decision-making aesthetically pleasing ‘non-hospital’ environment
created a huge number of ad-hoc queries from for patients, relatives and employees.
the wider project team. To help channel discussion
to the right individual, a simple triage and The challenge was made all the more difficult
approvals process was designed and circulated. when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, just a few weeks
before the planned opening date. This led to
Alice added: “The huge global demand meant difficulties sourcing critical products in the face of
that items like critical care beds and volumetric huge levels of demand from across the NHS and
infusion pumps were in short supply. When more widely.
this happened, we turned to colleagues who
were often able to open their address books to The team reacted to programme changes by
provide leads that would otherwise have been managing suppliers and rescheduling deliveries
unexplored. By building good relationships with at short notice, whilst making sure the Trust’s
suppliers and working with both Network Rail and aesthetic and practical requirements were
the armed forces on logistics, we were always maintained. For instance, when it looked like
able to get either the exact item required, or an a global shortage of patient beds could lead
acceptable substitute.” to a delayed opening, they worked hard to
successfully source and secure an alternative
In less than two weeks, through effective supplier at late notice.
collaboration and teamwork, over 10,000 With such a condensed commissioning
individual items of clinical equipment programme, NHS SBS specialists were on site
every day to ensure deliveries and installations
along with all necessary clinical
were aligned to other work streams.
consumables and PPE were identified,
The new hospital opened on time and welcomed
purchased and deployed ready for use.
its first patients on 27 June 2020.
The fully equipped NHS Nightingale Hospital North Fiona Jones, Director of PropCare, said: “The
West opened on time, accepting its first patients support was excellent. The team was flexible,
on Easter Monday 2020. professional, very knowledgeable and responsive.
They worked very closely with our clinical staff
Meanwhile, down the road… and architects on furniture and equipment
selection. The result has been a great success,
In Liverpool, the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS
with furnishings that complement the building
Foundation Trust opened its major new hospital
aesthetic extremely well. Patient feedback has
in June 2020 to transform cancer care for the
been excellent too.
region. To help ensure the state-of-the-art facility
opened to patients on time and to budget, NHS “Due to Covid-19 we were forced to commission
SBS’s Healthcare Improvement Solutions team the hospital in just four weeks. The team from
helped to equip the 11-storey, 110-bedroom NHS SBS was on site throughout, managing a
hospital in just four weeks. compressed equipping installation period and
working with the supply chain to secure deliveries
Tasked with delivering a flagship new cancer
as close to the planned schedule as possible -
hospital to provide highly specialist care to the
despite the unprecedented challenges of wider
region’s 2.4 million people, PropCare Ltd - a
NHS demand.
wholly-owned subsidiary of The Clatterbridge
Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust - turned to “I would not hesitate to partner with NHS SBS
NHS SBS to lead on all aspects of furnishing and again and would recommend them to others.”
equipping the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre
Liverpool (CCC-L).
NHS Shared Business Services | 25Article | Digital workforce solutions that enable real change
DIGITAL WORKFORCE
SOLUTIONS THAT
ENABLE REAL CHANGE
As the NHS has become accustomed
With digital technology playing an
to operating differently as a result of
increasingly important role in ensuring
a happy and efficient NHS workforce,
Covid-19, one of the consequences has
Sean Hopkins, Head of Programmes
and Technology for Employment
been the acceleration of digital solutions
Services at NHS Shared Business
Services, describes some of the
that have transformed – almost overnight
existing solutions that are already
available to NHS organisations.
– how clinicians interact with patients and
each other.
The speed at which the switch to remote consultations occurred,
for instance, shows just what can be achieved when the impetus is
there. Doctors and patients have adapted quickly to the need for
social distancing by using video conferencing technology for clinic
Originally published in appointments. For many patients this has been a welcome and
Health Business more convenient arrangement than attending in person.
31 July 2020
Before the pandemic, the direction of travel was already very
much around empowering patients by enabling them to do more
26 | Highlights From a Year of Changeonline. The clear focus on digital transformation or optimising the use of Self Service modules,
within the NHS Long Term Plan, for example, and for example, provides both managers and
the formation of NHSX to drive digital priorities, employees with a single digital platform for
such as interoperability, user experience and HR-related matters.
innovation, are part of an NHS commitment
that ‘digitally-enabled care will go mainstream Instead of paper forms and multiple systems and
across the NHS’. processes, NHS organisations can enable their
employees and managers to book and approve
And, whilst the last few months have hastened annual leave, manage personal information,
the digital transformation of some clinical enter sickness details, and complete training and
services, NHS organisations should now also be appraisals, quickly and easily, all in one place.
looking at how technology can deliver greater
workforce efficiencies, which can make the lives As well as helping the NHS to get the most
of NHS workers easier as they get used to a out of ESR, NHS SBS has invested in new NHS
‘new normal’. workforce technologies, which are designed
using the principles of automation, digitisation
In the NHS Operational Planning and Contacting and user experience – whilst being entirely
Guidance for 2020/21, which sets out what NHS interoperable with ESR. Just like with patients,
organisations should do now to achieve the the better use of technology can empower NHS
outcomes the NHS has committed to deliver by employees and reduce the admin burden that
2023/24, NHS England and NHS Improvement gets in the way of delivering world-class care.
say that ‘investment in technology, done in the
right way, improves care, increases productivity, The MySBSPay payroll app, for instance,
reduces the burden on staff freeing up more is designed to provide almost 400,000
time to care…’. NHS employees – at around 90 different
organisations that use the NHS SBS payroll
The Electronic Staff Record service – with round-the-clock access to their
payslips and P60s via their phone or tablet. The
The good news for NHS organisations is that user-friendly app gives a detailed breakdown of
there has already been significant investment in pay and deductions, and enables NHS staff to ask
workforce technologies that address the admin questions about their pay via chatbot technology.
burden on NHS workers.
The result is a significant reduction in common
The most well-known is the Electronic Staff queries to the payroll service desk, things
Record (ESR), which was rolled out to NHS like payslip clarifications, tax enquiries, pay
organisations across the country in between day information requests and maternity pay
2006 and 2008, to drive efficiencies, enhance questions. This equates to some 380 NHS
data security, improve productivity and save workforce hours being saved every month at
money. At the time it was considered to be the hospitals up and down the country. Time we
biggest programme of its kind in the world. know is being redirected into frontline care.
Before joining NHS SBS, I was part of the team Similarly, ePay is a digital system that interfaces
that led this national rollout – helping to train seamlessly with ESR and was developed as a
users and migrate huge amounts of data from more intuitive and quicker way for employees
countless other HR and payroll platforms. to submit expense and salary claims, or log
This technology is, therefore, already in place at absence and HR forms. Around 40 NHS provider
almost every NHS organisation in the country. But trusts currently use the system to provide
the reality is that it is not being used to anywhere a better user experience for their staff. The
near its full potential. The reason for this is that technology saves hundreds of thousands of
most NHS employers only use the HR and Payroll pounds for NHS organisations by improving the
modules and ignore other functionality. accuracy of timesheets and expense claims,
whilst eradicating thousands of error-prone
Today, my team at NHS SBS works with paper forms every year.
NHS organisations to help them unlock the
additional benefits ESR provides. Implementing
NHS Shared Business Services | 27Providing NHS employees with greater flexibility is also a key factor when it comes to implementing new digital workforce solutions successfully. With the NHS Operational Planning and Contacting Guidance for 2020/21 also pointing to the need ‘to support NHS providers to reduce their agency staff bills and encourage workers back into substantive and bank roles’, one way this can be achieved is by introducing a weekly payroll. By offering more regular payments, which is one of the main attractions of working through an agency, NHS trusts can incentivise more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to join their ‘bank’ – on average 20 per cent less expensive than paying for temporary agency staff. One trust we worked with to implement a weekly payroll managed to double the number of bank hours worked by its own registered nurses – saving around £10 million on agency fees in just 12 months. In his technology vision for the NHS, the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock points to the fact that some NHS staff ‘work in paper-based organisations where mobile working and digital technology could increase efficiency and productivity’, but that others ‘report significant improvement in working practices from the adoption of technology that works for them’. Two years on, the hope is that more NHS organisations will look to digital workforce solutions that enable real change. The reward, as the Secretary of State said when he set out his vision in 2018, is that ‘digitisation will save health and care providers money and free up staff time – money and time that can be better used to provide great care’. sbs.nhs.uk/employment-services 28 | Highlights From a Year of Change
#NHS Shared Business Services | 029
Case Study | Solent NHS Trust – reducing employee turnover with better exit interviews
SOLENT NHS TRUST –
REDUCING EMPLOYEE
TURNOVER WITH
BETTER EXIT
INTERVIEWS
Solent NHS Trust partnered with NHS SBS to pilot a new exit interview
Introduction
service, which has helped the Trust in its efforts to manage nursing staff
turnover and inform retention priorities.
Across the NHS, trusts are struggling to fill job vacancies. With an estimated
30,000 vacancies across England at any one time, taking steps to recruit
and retain more doctors, nurses and other health professionals is essential.
As one of the largest community providers in the NHS and a major employer
across Hampshire, managers at Solent NHS Trust knew that positive
engagement with departing employees could help inform the organisation’s
workforce processes, identify areas in need of priority attention, enhance
the workplace environment, and ultimately, reduce staff turnover.
30 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeThe Trust decided to partner with NHS SBS to pilot a
bespoke exit interview service.
Kevin Gaugler, Head of People the percentage of leavers engaging
Operations at Solent NHS Trust, with the exit interview process - 75
explained: “The main reason we per cent compared with just one
30,000 were keen to pilot a new exit
interview process was our need for
in three previously. Significantly,
ninety-four per cent of those who
critical insight into staff turnover, had an NHS SBS exit interview
There are an estimated
30,000 NHS job vacancies particularly amongst nursing rated the service positively.
across England at any staff. There was a real appetite
one time. for a detailed understanding And with the narrative ‘reasons
of why people were leaving in for leaving’ uncovering trends and
a competitive local recruitment highlighting issues in specific areas,
marketplace. the Trust was able to take positive
action and increase nursing staff
“The existing exit interview, retention in line with the national
however, had become a bit of a Model Hospital national average,
tick-box exercise and in reality surpassing it as of October 2018.
the majority weren’t being done.
Those that were recorded were In addition to helping the Trust
limited by a fairly antiquated identify areas for improvement,
questionnaire, with pre-loaded the detailed reports and
drop-down answers and no analysis provided has meant an
capacity to capture any narrative independent assurance that did
or identify trends.” not exist with the previous internal
process.
With this in mind, NHS SBS worked
closely with the Trust to design Kevin said:
an anonymised exit interview
process and bespoke reports, “The pilot has, in many ways,
which captured both leaver backed up what we already
data for statistical analysis and
thought anecdotally. But it has
qualitative information to inform
the organisation’s decision making. given us an evidence base and
provided a level of governance
Instead of a one-size-fits-all online
questionnaire, employees leaving that was previously missing. It
Solent NHS Trust were offered has given us the assurance that
a comprehensive telephone we are in control of turnover
interview with an independent HR
and what we are now seeing is
specialist from NHS SBS.
by design.”
The four-month pilot at Solent NHS
Trust led to a marked increase in
NHS Shared Business Services | 31032 | A year of change
As part of the Department of Health
and Social Care (DHSC), with access
to Sopra Steria and its global-leading
digital transformation expertise, we
are investing in new corporate service
solutions on behalf of the entire NHS.
Collaborating with innovative technology
providers, whilst working more closely than
ever with our NHS partners, means we can
develop co-designed solutions that support
the digital transformation agenda.
SOLUTIONS
Our focus on innovation, interoperability and
user experience has, for example, enabled us
to further enhance our NHS employee app.
And we are rolling out our digital marketplace
for goods and services to an ever-increasing
number of trusts.
The former, MySBSPay, can now enable NHS
DIGITAL
workers to access their salary as it is earned
– at no cost to them or their NHS employer.
This new financial wellbeing feature is in
addition to the hundreds of hours the app
has freed up for patient care every month,
by eradicating thousands of telephone and
email payroll queries.
NEW
The Edge4Health, meanwhile, is used by
thousands of frontline employees. They,
and the organisations they work for, now
benefit from a far more intuitive and robust
purchasing platform.
And, in 2021, we are set to launch the first
ever fully integrated patient booking, referrals
and admissions management service for the
NHS – having designed the solution with one
of London’s leading foundation trusts.
NHS
#NHS
Shared
Shared
Business
Business
Services | 33
Services | 033In The Press | The Edge4Health – the NHS’s marketplace
THE EDGE4HEALTH –
THE NHS’S
MARKETPLACE
In the NHS, having the right product in the right place at the right time
can be, quite literally, a matter of life and death. So an effective and
user-friendly purchasing system is vital.
Bringing a familiar, consumer-style experience to NHS procurement for the first time and making
purchasing easier and more transparent, The Edge4Health brings together thousands of suppliers
and NHS organisations on to one easy-to-use platform, streamlining the buying process while reducing
errors and delays in ordering and invoice payment.
Product details are easily uploaded on to the system by suppliers – a shift from previous practice where
the onus was on NHS organisations to manage their own catalogues. Suppliers can include images and
more accurate and up-to-date product information, whilst also attaching relevant supporting data and
notifications to all trusts of product stock-outs, price or specification changes and discontinued lines.
Requisitioners see only the products and prices that have been pre-approved by their procurement
teams, meaning compliance is built-in, spend is more visible and budgets are much easier to manage.
With £104 million having gone through The Edge4Health in the first year alone, the platform is now
being rolled out to customers at no additional cost.
NHS SBS launches consumer-style
procurement hub
NHS Shared Business Services’ cloud marketplace The Edge4Health
kicks off with four major NHS organisations to transform the way the
health service buys products and services.
Originally published in
Computer Weekly
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has launched a consumer-
style digital procurement hub to reduce cost and...
34 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeNHS PURCHASING PLATFORM ‘ELIMINATES
BARRIERS’ TO EFFICIENCY
Originally published in
Supply Management A new NHS procurement platform to buy thousands of
platform has been developed goods and services each day,
as part of efforts to and it is in the process of being
standardise purchasing in the rolled out across the health
health service. service.
The Edge4Health, developed by Product details and
NHS Shared Business Services updates, such as stock-
(NHS SBS) and tech firm outs, specification changes
Virtualstock, is a cloud-based or discontinued lines, can be
consumer-style marketplace uploaded to the system by
with almost 1m products. suppliers, a shift from previous
practice where the onus was on
Four NHS trusts have gone live NHS organisations to manage
with The Edge4Health, with their own catalogues.
1,000 employees using the
Major new procurement platform will
simplify NHS spend worth more
than £9bn a year
Originally published in
Building Better Healthcare
A major new procurement platform that will transform the way the
NHS buys its products and services – currently some £9billion of
annual spend – is being used by NHS trust staff for the first time.
The Edge4Health, a cloud-based, consumer-style marketplace
– developed by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) and
technology company, Virtualstock, to deliver cost savings and
efficiencies, better data management, greater compliance and end-
to-end supply chain visibility – has been launched at some of
NHS Shared Business Services | 35In The Press | The Edge4Health – the NHS’s marketplace
Originally published in
National Health Executive
First NHS trusts
introduce NHS SBS’
The Edge4Health
A major new procurement platform developed by
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), The
Edge4Health, is being adopted by NHS trust staff
across the UK for the first time.
Cybersecurity feature integrated to NHS
procurement platform
The Edge4Health is being rolled out to more than 60 NHS
organisations and will be used by around 30,000 NHS employees.
Bringing a familiar, consumer-style experience to NHS procurement
Originally published in for the first time and making purchasing easier and more transparent,
Med-Tech News
the platform now also enables suppliers to the NHS to check and
improve their cybersecurity, thanks to a dial indicating whether their
rating is good, average or bad.
36 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeNHS SBS adds cyber security
Originally published in
function to The Edge4Health
UK Authority
NHS Shared Business Service its emails and passwords on
(NHS SBS) has added a cyber the dark web.
security function to its recently
released The Edge4Health This leads to the provision of a
procurement platform. cyber risk score for individual
suppliers that is visible to the
The corporate services NHS trusts using the platform.
provider, which is a joint venture
between the Department for The suppliers can click a dial to
Health and Social Care and obtain a report that indicates
Sopra Steria, has developed their rating and provides
the feature with technology a detailed explanation of
company Virtualstock and the specific threats and
cyber threat intelligence vulnerabilities affecting them.
company Orpheus Cyber as It also shows how they can
part of the effort to improve reduce their vulnerabilities.
security along the supply chain.
Weak link target
Orpheus has built up a cyber
risk profile on all the suppliers Oliver Church, chief executive
included on The Edge4Health, officer of Orpheus, said: “Supply
combining information on what chain cyber security has never
it does, the technologies it uses been more important. Cyber
and the live vulnerabilities from adversaries of all types are
a hacker’s perspective. increasingly targeting supply
chains as the weak link in order
It also draws on the company’s to compromise their ultimate
large database of intelligence targets.”
reporting on threats, which
takes in factors such as whether
a company is displaying any
open ports in its web facing
services, and the availability of
NHS Shared Business Services | 37Article | Understanding pay and improving workforce efficiency with MySBSPay
UNDERSTANDING PAY
AND IMPROVING
WORKFORCE
EFFICIENCY WITH
MYSBSPAY
With NHS SBS providing a payroll service to
Lee Edwards, IT director at NHS
Shared Business Services, describes around 90 different NHS organisations, we
how the MySBSPay app has made it
easier for NHS employees to view and are uniquely placed to design, develop and
understand their pay and help them
work more efficiently. deliver new digital innovations which can be
rolled out widely across the NHS workforce.
And in 2018 that’s exactly what we set out to do. Feedback from
NHS staff made it clear they wanted easier access to their pay
information – as opposed to just receiving a paper or PDF payslip
every month.
Originally published in So for those NHS employees paid via NHS SBS – around 400,000
National Health Executive
Autumn 2019 of them – we began building an app to provide secure, round-
38 | Highlights From a Year of Changethe-clock access to payslips, P60s and other And some of the trusts that have the biggest
pay-related information. With new functionality employee uptake of MySBSPay have also
released every month, it would include a detailed benefitted from the largest workforce
breakdown of pay and deductions, FAQs efficiency savings.
and chat features to help employees better
understand their pay. At Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust, more than one in four
Our in-house developers worked closely with employees are now using the app and the
staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to average number of monthly queries has reduced
design the app and test its functionality, ensuring by 21% - saving more than 10 hours of staff time
it would meet the needs of the modern NHS every month.
professional. In August last year, MySBSPay was
launched on Google Play and the Apple Store. Stephen Aynsley-Smith, the Trust’s deputy
director of finance, described MySBSPay as
Fast forward 12 months and our app has “innovative yet simple to use” and that it was
been downloaded almost 60,000 times and “minimising the need for pay-related queries
today includes unique discounts to help NHS and clarifications.”
employees make the most of their money. We
have also extended availability of the app to all Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust has seen nearly
1.4 millon NHS staff, who can now download it to 11 hours of employee time saved per month.
take advantage of the discount offers. Its Director of Finance, Jazz Thind, said:
“[MySBSPay] is helping to free up valuable
The impact on NHS workforce productivity employee time and allowing resources to be
has surpassed all expectations. With our directed to where they add most value, such as
payroll service desk dealing with thousands of the delivery of the highest standards of patient
calls every month from NHS employees with care.”
common queries, such as tax enquiries and pay
day information requests, our aim was to use The success of MySBSPay illustrates how the
technology to answer such questions in a more development of innovative technology must
convenient and efficient way. continue if the NHS workforce is to have the
tools it needs to be more effective.
By delivering pay information via an interactive
and increasingly sophisticated app we have The NHS Long Term Plan talks about removing
been able to pre-empt many queries. wasted time and irritating tasks so staff are able
to focus on patient care. And this is where new
The result is NHS employees have less need to digital technologies can have the biggest impact
phone us – with the answer often now available – freeing up NHS employees to concentrate
at the click of a button. It means extra time for more of their time where it makes the biggest
more valuable activity like patient care and less difference to patients.
time spent on admin outside of work.
sbs.nhs.uk
When comparing the number of service desk
calls at the time MySBSPay launched last year,
to the more recent monthly average, we have
seen an overall reduction of around 30%.
Based on the average six minutes it takes to
resolve each query, this equates to a combined
saving of around 380 hours every month for
NHS staff around the country – the equivalent
of 54 working days.
NHS Shared Business Services | 39In The Press | MySBSPay
Originally published in
Nursing Standard
NHS nurses to get paid
before payday with
flexible finance app
Nursing staff will be offered early access to their salary.
The Earnd app will give NHS nurses doing bank shifts
flexible access to part of their pay. A paid-as-you-
earn app will offer NHS nursing staff faster access to
their salary and an incentive to take bank rather than
agency shifts.
330 NHS working hours saved every
month after launch of new payroll App
A new App which enables NHS staff to view and interrogate their
payslips on any mobile device is helping to save the NHS around
333 hours every month by reducing the number of telephone payroll
Originally published in queries from NHS employees. MySBSPay was launched by NHS
Building Better Healthcare
Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) towards the end of 2018 to
give NHS employees their pay information in a more-convenient and
understandable format, including the facility to ask common pay-
related questions using modern Chatbot technology.
40 | Highlights From a Year of ChangeNEW PAYROLL APP SAVES 330
HOURS A MONTH
Originally published in A new app that enables NHS staff to view and interrogate their
Health Business
payslips on any mobile device is helping to save the NHS around 333
hours every month. The MySBSPay app, launched by NHS Shared
Business Services at the end of last year, reduces the number of
telephone payroll queries from NHS employees, allowing employees
NHS SBS and Earnd join forces to give
Originally published in
Health Tech Digital NHS workers flexible access to pay
An innovative payroll platform Following the agreement, Earnd
that enables NHS employees – a mobile app that improves
to access their pay as they financial wellbeing by giving
earn is being rolled out free of employees free and flexible
charge to all NHS organisations, access to their salary – will be
thanks to a unique partnership available to NHS users via the
between Earnd and NHS existing MySBSPay app.
Shared Business Services
(NHS SBS).
ROYAL FREE LONDON GOES LIVE WITH
PAYROLL APP
Royal Free London NHS FT is the first to go live with a new payroll
platform, following a collaboration between Earnd, a mobile payroll
Originally published in app and NHS SBS.
Health Tech Newspaper
The Earnd technology is being made available through the MySBSPay
app to provide additional tools such as to support a ‘pay as you
earn’ offering.
NHS Shared Business Services | 41You can also read
